Bad Day
by boombangbing
Summary: A few months after the events of Serenity, the crew go planet side, and Simon meets someone he hoped he'd never see again. POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Not mine 

"Something bad is going to happen, something very, very bad."

"What's that, River?" Simon asked, distractedly, watching Kaylee load up the mule.

"Something bad is going to happen today." she repeated.

"Ah, don't start talkin' like that, girl! Nothin' bad is gonna happen." Mal said, walking past her and down the ramp that was opened to a bright, sunny day on a planet on the outer edge of the core.

"It's a lovely day, and more importantly, there be money to be made. Ain't nothin' bad gonna happen. You can trust, I am the Cap'n after all."

**Six hours later**

Mal and Zoe stood back to back, firing at their numerous enemies.

"In which way is this not a bad day, sir?"

** Two hours earlier**

"See what I mean? The same duck-swan carving in every gift shop!" Inara complained, casting a critical eye over the shop's stock.

"I think it's kinda nice, y'know," Kaylee piped up, "Where ever you go in the 'verse you'll always find somethin' familiar."

Simon smiled, and wound his arm around Kaylee's waist, "That's really sweet. Do you want me to buy you one?"

"Nah, they ain't worth wasting money on. I just like seeing 'em now and again is all. Weren't it you who said it was all a pile of _gos se_anyway?"

"Ah," Simon went crimson, "Well, I was a snob back then."

"And you still are, that's why I love you..."

Simon stared at Kaylee, shocked. Inara shifted uncomfortably, "I'm just going to go and..." She quickly exited the shop.

"I'm sorry," Kaylee said quietly, "I'm takin' things to fast."

"No, no. I think it's about time things went a little faster. I love you too."

Kaylee grinned as Simon pulled her in for a kiss.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Zoe had fast lost the other crew members. She'd told the Cap'n she was wantin' some alone time, and he could hardly refuse the grieving widow. Since Wash's death, nobody had even mentioned his name. 'Ceptin of course, River. One day they were all round the kitchen table, and the Cap'n was waffling on abut some such, and River suddenly come out with; 'Wash would have loved this!'. Everybody had given her that 'shutupshutupshutup' look, but honestly, it warmed Zoe's heart to hear his name spoken. It'd been a hard few months, what with everyone skirting around, thinking she'd start bawling if'n they talked about her late husband. She didn't like being treated like this. As if she were fragile or somethin'.

She hiked up a small hill, from her viewpoint she could see the most of the small village they were visiting. Below her, a fair was in full swing, and she could just make out Simon and Kaylee holding hands, swaying gently with the music of the fair entertainers. Among the dancers was River. She'd joined them even though she wasn't supposed'ta, and they'd accepted her, as was the way of people around River. They accepted her when she danced, or did one of the other million things she could do perfectly. Truth be told, it was a lovely sight. Of course, things never stay lovely for long when it concerned the crew of Serenity.

Simon was happy. He had his arms wrapped round Kaylee, the girl he'd just told he loved, and he was happy. He felt like he had found his home, and it was a clapped out bucket of bolts ship, and a small female mechanic. In front of him was his _mei-mei_, having the time of her life. She always liked dancing.

Quite unexpectedly, River stopped dancing. She just stood, as if frozen, amid the twisting and turning bodies. He'd only seen her afraid once before, when she thought a spider was going to eat her when she was three years old. But now, he could see the fear etched on her face. She watching something beyond, and as he turned to see what it was, someone grabbed his arm.

"Simon, where have you been! River come here!" a man in his fifties or sixties yelled at him.

"Excuse me sir, what do ya think ya doing?" Kaylee asked, holding tight to Simon.

"It's none of your business, little girl."

"Might be mine though."

The whole area was quiet, but for the ominous click of a semiautomatic. Zoe approached them, her gun pointed squarely on the man's forehead.

"Just let go of the good doc's arm, and we'll all be happy."

The man was going red with anger now. "This is between me and my children."

"You're Simon and River's dad, huh?" Zoe asked, withdrawing her radio, and clicking it on.

"Sir, are you reading me?" she said into it.

"Loud and clear, Zoe. What's the trouble?" Mal voice drawled over the crackly radio.

"It's the doc, and River. Think you could give us some backup?"

"Isn't it always? Where are ya?"

"You see all the people running away in a group? Walk against them."

"We're on our way."

Zoe, Kaylee, River, Simon and their father stood absolutely still. Zoe had her gun trained on Mr Tam. Mr Tam held on to Simon, Simon had one arm around Kaylee and River watched the scene from a couple of metres away.

"Well, looky here," Mal announced as he and Jayne walked up to them. "what do we have here, then?"

"Meet Mr Tam, sir. Simon's dad."

Mal looked him up and down.

"Shiny. Always wanted to meet the parents. Now we've met. Go away."

Mr Tam sneered at Mal, "What are you going to do, shoot me? I am a very well-connected member of the core community."

"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of hurting you. He would though." Mal gestured to Jayne.

Jayne grinned, "This is Vera, she's my very favourite gun. She ain't seen no action for nigh on seven days, and ma' finger is feelin' mighty itchy."

"This is a family matter, please leave us alone," Gabriel Tam spat out, "Come here River!" he demanded.

River looked at him with one of those patented 'I don't like you very much' stares, and walked over to Zoe. She carefully slipped one of Zoe's spare gun out of it's holster and pointed it at her father.

"Well, I think that decided things. She obviously ain't going with you." Mal smirked slightly, "And as for family, everyone in my crew is my family, that includes your son and daughter, even if she is crazier than a bag of snakes.

"Now let the doc go, 'afore I blow a hole the size of my fist in your head."

Gabriel reluctantly let go of Simon's arm. He and Kaylee quickly ran over to the others.

"You sure do have a knack for gettin' your self into trouble, don'cha?" Mal asked as they walked back to the ship, leaving a fuming Mr Tam behind.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

There was a surprise waiting for them when they got back to Serenity. The old ship was surrounded by feds. They were everywhere.

"_Nee ta ma duh tyen-shia soy ya duh ren doh goy swa_, where the _guay_ did they come from?" Mal swore, pulling out his gun.

A couple of feds noticed him, and started firing shots his way. He dived behind a bush, and let off a hail of bullets.

Zoe suddenly appeared at his side, shooting down anyone in her line of sight.

"In which way is this not a bad day, sir?"

_gos se - crap_

_mei-mei - little sister._

_Nee ta ma duh tyen-shia soy ya duh ren doh goy swa - Fuck everyone in the universe to death._

_guay - hell_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Do you think if I owned FF, I'd have killed off Wash? No thankyou very much.**

The six crew members were under heavy fire. They had constructed a makeshift barricade out of discarded ship parts. The feds were closing on them fast, and there weren't a thing they could do about it.

"Damn it, where did they come from, sir?" Zoe yelled over the roar of gunfire.

"I don't rightly know the whys and wherefores of where they came from, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that Mr Tam has somethin' to do with it."

Everyone looked at Simon. "I - It's the sort of thing he'd do."

"Great." Jayne growled.

"Okay, okay, let's not being gettin' down. All we need is a plan on gettin' from here to the ship - Jayne, what are ya doin'?"

"Plannin'" Jayne said as he pulled the pin out of a grenade with his teeth. He stretched his arm back, and flung it over the barricade.

"Cover ya ears!" he yelled, as he lay flat with his hands over his head.

The grenade exploded and smoke filled the air.

"Come on, let's get to the ship while they're otherwise engaged." Mal crawled along on his stomach, waving the rest of the crew on.

"Zoe, you take point, me an' Jayne will watch your backs."

Zoe, followed by Simon, Kaylee and River ran the short distance to the ship. The feds were already coming to their senses, and were scrabbling round for their guns. Zoe was opening the docking bay, when River broke away from the group, weaving and dodging bullets as she went.

This first thing Jayne heard of all this was Simon's anguished cry.

"River!"

He wheeled around, gun pointed forward, when the small body of the crazy girl whacked into him. For her size, she packed quite a punch, and sent him sprawling along the ground.

"Whaddaya think you're doing, girl?" Jayne asked, when he had got his breath back. River lay on top of him, smiling.

"Saving the saviour." she said in her singsong voice.

Jayne stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Okay. Come on, we need ta' get to the ship."

Jayne swung River over his shoulder, and ran to the ship. The bay doors were half open, and everyone else was already in. Jayne passed River to Simon, who pulled her in quicker than you could blink, and then got in himself, with the help of Zoe and Mal.

"Kaylee, close the doors."

"Right you are, Cap'n."

The doors started to slowly close up, and Mal went to pilot the ship. Simon was yelling at River.

"What in the _guay_ do you think you were doing? You could have been killed!"

"Fed was going to make a hole in his head." she said quietly.

"I don't care! He could have made a hole in _your _head! You should have left Jayne!"

Simon turned to Jayne, "No offence."

"Feelings mutual, doc."

"I don't want to interrupt this touching moment, but where's Inara?" Zoe asked.

Everyone stared at her.

"Isn't she-?" Simon started.

"She ain't on the ship, I looked." Zoe said in a deadpan voice.

"Last time we saw her, she was in the gift shop." Kaylee said, looking worried.

"I'll tell the Cap'n." Zoe climbed the metal stairs to the bridge.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Inara had circled the village three times, looking for her friends, but were gone. So was the ship, though not without a fight it seemed. The ground was splattered with blood, and littered with used grenades.

"Great." she sighed. Was it possible for Mal not to get into some kind of trouble, even for one trip? Mal... she hoped he was okay. No doubt the doctor would be able to patch up most wounds he might have acquired, but it didn't stop her from worrying. She'd been thinking recently if she'd made the right choice about rejoining the crew. She'd barely had any clients since Miranda, and if she was honest, she didn't care to. She'd left because she knew if she stayed she would never be able to leave, and here she was, back at square one.

A rush of wind blew her hair around her face, and as she looked up, a familiar voice yelled out at her.

"You lookin' for a lift, little lady?"

Mal grinned down at her from the open hatch, and threw a rope down. Inara looped it round her foot and hitched herself up. When she was close enough, Mal grabbed her hand and pulled her in. They were, for a moment, tantalising close to each other, as Mal put one arm around Inara to steady her. But the moment passed, and he let go of her to shout orders to the crew.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

"Okay, I think we need to have ourselves a little meetin'." Mal announced to a full kitchen.

"Firstly, why was your dad on that planet back there?"

Inara gasped, but was roundly ignored.

"I - I don't know. He could have been there for any reason. It's not like I'd know, is it?"

"Well, we may be havin' a problem on our hands, do ya think he'll follow us?"

"Most probably, yes." Simon replied.

Mal pinched the bridge of his nose, "I thought you two would be less trouble, oh, and by the by, I thought you're sister weren't crazy any more?"

"She's getting better Captain, even you commented on that."

"Then why in God's green terra formed 'verse did she knock Jayne outta the way?"

River jumped out of her seat, "I am here you know, you don't need to speak about me like I'm not. I'm psychic, not stupid." With that she stomped out of the room, followed by Simon with Kaylee in tow.

"You can be so insensitive sometimes, Mal." Inara said.

"What? How?"

"Well, however," Inara looked over at Jayne who was downing a pint full of some sort of alcohol, and shoving food into his mouth, "Misguided she may have been, you can hardly have a problem with her _saving_ a member of your crew. God, I wonder how you ever managed to have a meaningful relationship, if indeed, you ever have." She got up gracefully and exited the room.

Jayne started sniggering, "Trouble with the missus, Mal?"

"Oh, shut your gorram mouth, or I'll shut it for you."

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Simon leant against River's door. "Come on, _mei mei_, I'm sorry and I'm sure the Captain is too."

His plea was met by silence. Kaylee came up behind him, and laid a hand on his back. "Let me." she whispered.

"River, men are idiots, you can't expect 'em to have proper feelins'."

The door opened a crack, and River peered out. "You can come in," she said, pointing at Kaylee, "but you," she said pointing at Simon, "can't."

Kaylee slipped into River's quarters.

"River, the Cap'n and your brother are just worried 'bout you. I mean, why would you do that for Jayne, it's just alittle hard for us normal folk ta get our heads around. Unless... No, that's just too icky."

River grinned, and Kaylee's eye widened in shock.

"You can't like... Why?"

"Ask no questions, and I'll tell you no lies."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Joss is god, I am just a disciple.**

**A/N Sorry this took so long, and sorry it's so short. I'm sort of stuck, I started this story with a strong beginning in mind, but I hadn't really thought about where it would go, so any help on that would be gratefully accepted. I decided to persevere w****ith it because it got reviewed on the Firefly Talk Podcast. Yes, that's right, it got reviewed! I am so happy:) Everyone should subscribe to the podcast, it absolutely rocks!**

"You can't run away from this, Mal!" Inara shouted, following Mal into the kitchen.

"Excuse me? I'm thinkin' I already have!" he yelled over his shoulder, as he reached the kitchen. Inara came in after him,

"You can't make this decision for them. He is their father, how do you know they don't want to see him?"

"I think they made it pretty gorram clear they didn't wanna see him!"

"They were in shock," she said, bringing her voice down a couple of decibels, trying to calm the situation, "They might feel differently now. I think should at least ask them. It isn't right not to give them the choice."

Mal stared at Inara in disbelief. She didn't seem ta' understand the implications of what she was suggesting.

"Gabriel _called the feds!_ It ain't safe to be goin' round WAVE-ing folks willy-nilly."

"They aren't fugitives anymore, Mal!"

"I conjure that ain't entirely true. It seems ta' me that there's always gonna be someone wanting to poke around in that pretty head, and that, _that_ ain't right. I gotta think of the whole crew here, not just two pretty Tam siblings."

Mal grabbed the glass of water he'd come in for, and pushed past Inara.

"Are you - are you sure you're not projecting your own feelings on to Simon and River? You never talk about your family, you know."

Mal turned back towards her, "Don't - just don't. It ain't none of you business."

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Zoe sat on her bunk, sorting put her guns, resolutely not letting her gaze wander over to the T-rex and Stegosaurus sitting on the chest of drawers.

'_Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!'_

Zoe shut her eyes, as if that would change somethin', as if when she opened them again, he would be sitting there, playing with his plastic dinosaurs and she would whisper to him about much more adult things they could be getting on with. As if.

There was a rap at the door.

"Come in!" Zoe called, glad at the distraction.

Kaylee nervously popped her head around the door, "Oh, if you're doin' somethin', I'll come back later."

"No, no, c'mon in. What's wrong?"

"It's about me an' Simon."

"Wouldn't you be better off talking to Inara or River 'bout this?" Zoe cut in.

"Well, Inara stormed off to her shuttle half an hour ago, I think her and Capt'n have been fightin' and this really ain't the sort of thing I want to talk to River about."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "So, I was a last resort type of thing, then?"

"Kinda - Oh, I don't mean it like that! It's just that -"

"I'm jokin'," Zoe said, smiling, "Can't you tell? Tell me what's wrong."

"It's, well, Simon can't -" Kaylee started.

"Hold up, I don't know that I really wanna know this!"

"Oh, it's not like that!" Kaylee exclaimed, pink tinting her cheeks. "He won't talk ta' me no more, he's all distant-like. I've tried talking ta' him, I've tried not talking ta' him. Nothin' works."

Zoe thought for a second.

"You gotta understand, Kaylee, he's had a big shock. For better or worse, his pa was a big part of his and River's lives. Now, they've been runnin' from him as well as the feds, but that don't stop Simon from caring for him. It's difficult, y'know, to let go." Zoe sighed quietly.

Kaylee looked thoughtful. "So, what do I do?"

"Give him some space, be there when he needs ya'. He'll soon wake up and remember you're here."

"You think?" Kaylee asked dubiously.

"I know it."

Kaylee stood up and hugged Zoe briefly, "Thank you." she said happily as she left the bunk.

Zoe thought out loud; "When did I become the agony aunt on this ship?"


End file.
